RESOLUTION
PUBLIC SESSION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
unanimously
Resolved,
That the Board of Directors
of the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Expresses its Heartfelt Condolences
to the Family and Friends of
Gary Fife (Creek)
Founding host of National Native News
We will long remember with gratitude Gary Fife, the pioneering journalist who served as the first host of National Native News, which launched in 1987 as the first national public radio program to cover Indian Country and continues to this day.
A radio journalist living in Minneapolis, Gary was recruited by the Alaska Public Radio Network to start the program because he had reporting and broadcast experience, a deep knowledge of Native history, politics and issues, and was well-connected across Indian Country.
Gary embraced the challenge because he believed that media was a modern extension of traditional storytelling and could be used to uplift what was then an invisible minority of Native Americans. He used his platform to educate journalists about the diversity and complexity of Indian Country.
The CPB Board of Directors marks Gary Fife’s leadership, vision, and extraordinary service to public media and the American public with deep respect and appreciation and offers our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.